Orange County Fair

This week I began performing in the flying trapeze show at the OC Fair. It's fun! It's the first real paid gig for flying trapeze I've ever done. I did help with a commercial shoot at Paramount Studios once by swinging on the trapeze for lighting purposes, but I was not the flyer featured in the commercial, nor did I end up getting paid for anything I did that day. But that's a different story.

I went down to the fairgrounds on Tuesday to try on my costume and practice a couple of tricks without a crowd (the fair is closed Mondays and Tuesdays), and it all felt great! I could get into my tricks just fine with the corset top, and my catches were solid. Wednesday I headed back down to the fair early so I could watch their 4pm show to see how everything went before replacing one of the other flyers for the 6pm show. About ten minutes before the 4pm show I got a call from the rig owner telling me that one of their performers was stuck in traffic and wasn't going to make it in time for the show, and asked me if I would be willing to take her spot - without having seen the show myself! I awkwardly made my way down the packed bleachers and let myself into the performance area to quickly change, stretch my arms and chalk up my wrists. I did my best to follow the other girls' leads throughout the show, and it went well! My adrenaline was pumping and my legs were a little shaky while on the pedestal, but everyone threw beautiful tricks. When the 6pm show came around my shakiness had subsided a little, but I had a new reason to be nervous since a couple of my friends (who also fly) were seated in the audience.

I did two more shows today, and was given the opportunity to do a hoop performance at the beginning of the last show of the day. Since I hadn't performed a solo hoop routine since New Years Eve, I spent time between my two flying performances watching some of my old videos and re-choreographing my NYE routine so that it would work on the hoop they had up. My routine ended up being a little shorter than the time usually allotted for their static performance, but wasn't an issue as they have a person running the music transitions during the show rather than relying on a pre-recorded soundtrack. I got quite a few compliments from the rest of the staff afterward.

I'm supposed to get my schedule for next week in a couple of days - I'm looking forward to more performances!

P.K.M.I.

I read a lot of blogs. Because I read a lot of blogs I have developed a pretty good idea of things I do not want this blog to turn into. Let me present to you my "P.K.M.I..." list so you can help keep me in check. As a disclaimer, I'm not singling out any of my blogging friends. I like to read your blogs; they give me something to distract me from whatever else I'm supposed to be doing!

Please Kick Me If...

...I get into the habit of titling my blog posts with acronyms (today's title was obviously meant to be ironic. Did you catch that?).

...I regularly share more than 5 pictures in a post. If more are needed, I should create a collage and present that as one or two photos.

...I start dedicating my blog posts to people who aren't in my life yet (a spouse I don't have, yet-to-be-conceived children, etc.).

...I regularly gush about how adorable my very average looking child/pet is.

...I turn my blog into a "marriage blog." See THIS POST to understand my thoughts on this.

...I monetize my blog to the point where ads are basically the only thing you notice.

...I ever use my blog to try to sell 

...I stop having fun while posting.

Love you all. Blog on.

Sleep Talking

This week a friend of my roommate's is staying at our apartment and I am sharing the living room with her. Between the three of us there are about 6 languages spoken semi-fluently to fluently, and about 2-3 more that are partially understood because of common roots.

I believe almost everyone has talked in their sleep at some point; I think it's funny when people do, although I haven't decided if it's more funny if you can or cannot understand what's being said. Either way, my roommate and I had a good laugh this morning when our house guest started talking to us from the living room. My roommate came into the room to ask her what she had said when I pointed out that the gal was still asleep, and speaking Polish.

Downsizing

I moved! After nearly three years of being in the same apartment I decided to relocate. I loved my old apartment and am not the biggest fan of the moving process, but it was definitely time. For the majority of this year I was having trouble finding someone to rent the last spot in my apartment, which meant I was paying double my usual rent as I was the only one on the lease. Without a full time job this was proving difficult, and it didn't make sense for me to stay. I also wasn't terribly fond of the one roommate I did have for multiple reasons (her dog got fleas and they chewed up my ankles!!), so I gave my landlady a month's notice and started packing.

I moved in with a friend at the beginning of the month, and am currently living in the living room of her one bedroom apartment. I like it, but there isn't nearly the same amount of storage space here as there was in my old apartment. I have use of the tiny coat closet, some kitchen shelving, and bought some cinder blocks to put under the legs of my bed to create some extra storage space. Even with getting rid of my couches, donating clothes, selling bed frames, lamps, wall art, and throwing away about a ton of old papers, an old bicycle, and whatever else I could convince myself to part with, I find I have WAY too much stuff for this place!

For now I'm trying to take some time to further thin out my belongings, but am also trying to keep the majority of my things boxed up and ready to move again around the beginning of September when my roommate's boyfriend from New York moves in with her. Anyone in need of a roommate this Fall?

The Oldest I've Ever Been

Well, I finally gave in and did it. I turned 30. Sigh. Though to me it seems like any other birthday in the sense that you don't magically wake up feeling like a different person, once you hit 30 there is still the perception that you are now "old." When my dad tries to remind me how young I really am I often tell him "I'm the oldest I've ever been!"

I had much more envisioned for myself at 30: solid career, handsome husband, maybe a couple of kids, happily paying a mortgage on a house with a yard. I don't have any of that; I was laid off and work a part time job, I'm clearly not married nor have children, and tomorrow I am moving out of the 2 bedroom apartment I've been leasing for nearly 3 years to take up residence in the living room of a 1 bedroom apartment that my friend is renting. I don't feel like I'm where I should be (accomplishments-wise) for a 30 year old. That part is disappointing.

My actual birthday however, was a blast! My older sister Stephanie flew in from Colorado with some of her kids two days before my birthday, and we packed as much fun as we could into her 4 day trip! We spent a lot of time outdoors taking her kids to 3 beaches, many, many restaurants, and up a hiking trail to a waterfall. Our younger sister Krystin was supposed to join us as well, but a week before the trip she started feeling unsettled about driving all the way from Idaho alone with her two little kids in the car. After speaking with us about her impressions we all agreed it would probably be best that she keep her family safe. Turned out for the best too, as her insulin pump (she's diabetic) ended up failing before the trip would've been over! 

On my birthday Stephanie, her kids and I decided to do 30 things to celebrate my 30 years, which kept us busy from 7:30am until midnight! For a few examples, we went to the La Brea tar pits, hit up Hollywood to see Cher's star on the walk of fame and her hand & foot prints at the Chinese Theatre, visited the wax museum, watched Monsters U at the El Capitan, we did some shopping, ate out for every meal, looked for license plates from 21 states (my birthday was on the 21st), did a chinese firedrill, rode the ferris wheel on the Santa  Monica pier, and baked individual pineapple upsidedown cakes. It was a fantastic way to turn 30!

Stephanie flew home with the baby the evening after my birthday, leaving me with the other two kids to spend a couple of days at Disneyland before accompanying them back to Colorado. Now it's time to settle in and see what the rest of 30 feels like. Wish me luck!